Antebellum
by Sadrielle
Summary: AU: Usagi has little time to be excited about a new semester of school when a illness begins dominating the immediate district of Azubu-Juuban.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my fanfiction for Sailor Moon, and though it could be categorized as 'AU', I would like to think that it strikes closer to the original canon than most do. For as long as I've known about Sailor Moon, I have been in love with it. No other anime, manga, whatever has made me cry and laugh to... this extent. Naoko Takeuchi's vision was beautiful, and I hope she has even an idea of... how many hearts she has touched. How much she has touched my heart with her characters.**

**For this reason, it is my aim to keep the characters as their original personalities as much as I can. The story is roughly a mesh of anime, manga, seiryuus, and live action. Hopefully everything will be presented in a unique manner, but if a scenario should seem familiar, it is quite possible you've read or seen it before in one of the aforementioned.**

**I've decided to start with the beginning. I want this story to grow with Usagi.**

**Yoroshiku.**

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><p>A thick fog had taken predominance of the street that night and left the residential district of Azabu-Juban desolate of night walkers. Indeed, even the stray wildlife had the good sense to keep off the roads, excepting two well-fed cats, whom had arranged a midnight meeting at an intersection bordered by two red mail boxes.<p>

The white cat did not recognize the black cat as it appeared, and they both stared at each other until the white feline sat on its haunches and asked its acquaintance, "It's not like you to be late; I was almost worried." The words were voiced in such a natural manner that the other feline seemed not to notice that there was anything strange with a talking cat.

"I seem to recall that last time you failed to show altogether," she conversed back. Cats have often been criticized for not having distinctive eyebrows that allow for human emotion, but Luna managed an expression that seemed exasperated (which is an emotion that is quite human itself).She turned the intersection's curve after checking to see if Artemis had begun plodding behind her. They continued together a few feet in silence until Luna murmured out loud, "I should apologize."

Artemis allowed the other the cat to muse, and once it was clear that she had nothing else to add, he quipped, "Well I'm glad you did apologize; I'm lucky to be here at all. Minako has not been a fan of going to bed at a reasonable time." He perked his left ear forward as Luna considered a small, green hedge of a medium width. As she squeezed herself onto the small corporate owned lawn beyond, Artemis had little choice but to follow. "I never feel right. Not telling her, I mean. The sneaking out."

"Don't," Luna started as soon as the white cat's head poked through the shrubbery. "Feel guilty, that is. You should be more concerned for her physical well being. How about reminding her that young, school-aged girls need eight hours of sleep, hm?" She could not control the motion of her tail; it whipped back and forth shrewdly over her head.

The corporate lawn tapered into a parking lot with sparsely placed markings for parked cars, yet without the vehicles, the cats seemed to be consumed by the pavement until they reached a dumpster, a dumpster adjacent to a low rising complex. "Do you think I haven't?" Artemis assured Luna, after they had stopped in front of the condo. Inevitably, as he had done nearly every meeting in the past, he remarked with tangible pride, "She is a wonderful girl. Mature and brilliant. And..."

Artemis trailed quiet because Luna had proceeded. The complex they had approached remained dark and unlit, save for the dim street light that kept its backside illuminated. The outer walls were pale-faced and stood out well from the dark-themed roofing. It was surrounded by a fence that played along the hedge they crawled beneath earlier.

The black cat used the fence as a perch to reach the second story window, where she waited for her companion to reach her. She replied to him calmly and without much enthusiasm herself, "Oh yes, I too have been impressed by her. I'm surprised, really, with all of the publicity that she receives that she can keep so level-headed. And more surprised with the _lack of concern _for her physical well-being."

"I get it, Luna..."

"Good," she concluded and placed her paw on the window that she sat by. "Things should get easier real soon, though. I have high hopes."

Even her overall tone elevated as she said this, and it was enough to make Artemis excited by proxy. "Oh?"

"Yes. 'Oh'." Her paw firmed in its position. She waited until he looked into the window himself; the window revealed a dark room with furniture carelessly arranged, and one blonde-headed occupant tucked beneath thick blankets decorated in moons and stars. "I believe I've found someone else who is ready. If I am correct, Minako will have a companion to work with. A _human_ companion," she adds, seeing Artemis's initial reaction. "Really, you don't have to look so indignant about it."

Artemis kissed his nose to the glass, but he could not see what Luna saw. Where she saw hope and promise, he saw a young girl roughly the same age as own charge, sleeping and unaware. Artemis felt sure that even if Minako had been caught asleep that she would not have been so easy to read as he found the tucked girl. "How can you be sure?" he asked doubtfully.

"I've been watching her. It's not been the easiest thing," she added, her ears drooped by some unspoken memory of hers, "and at first you may have your doubts (I certainly did), but there is something there." She met Artemis's gaze and she needled further, "Can't you feel it?"

The white cat shook his head. Cats are notoriously good at sensing things, which is why you might notice, Dear Reader, that your own cats know when it is time to go to the vet. When it is time to get ready for supper. When it is relaxation time. Oh yes, cats are very adequate surveyors of the ordinary and otherwise. Unfortunately in this instance, Artemis could only see what his blue eyes told him, and the night air would not lend an opinion. "No. But people are not always ready one-hundred percent of the time. Not even Minako."

"I see." Luna did not like that answer, but she couldn't fault Artemis for not being able to see what she had seen during the past two months.

"But I believe you!" he asserted. "If Luna thinks that this girl is special, then I support her opinion."

His support slightly mollified the black cat. She curled her tail against her seated haunch contently. "I am waiting for the right moment to contact her, and it will be tricky. She is..." The cat hesitates. "Well, that is to say, any young girl might feel slightly put off by the things they are unaware of. But the unfortunate 'accidents' that have been occurring around town may help convince her..."

"What if Minako...?" Artemis seated himself as well, the left side of his back smooshed against the window plane.

"Not yet. Minako's publicity..." The small crescent on Luna's forehead seemed to pale. "Usagi—the girl in there—is not the most _level-headed_. She would be star-struck and not take things seriously; no, no, she must be handled specially."

"I trust your judgement," Artemis said again, softly.

"Thank you, Artemis." The black cat flicked her gaze back at Artemis and studied his front. Her eyes, unlike his, maintained a dull shade of brick red. They shared a moment of harmonic silence until Luna's eyes veered toward the sky with an alien passiveness. She communicated with the night sky, its stars and the moon above some deep longing, a slice of wisdom and serenity until she found herself capable of speech again.

There was a rustle somewhere to their right. The hair on Luna's back became stiff and wiry as she glared at something over her companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a dormouse making its way back home.

"So tense, Luna." Artemis seemed to be grinning at her.

"What a very illuminating observation." Luna gave him a look and lingered there for seconds more before making her way back to ground level. The gravel surrounding the condo crackled beneath her feet as she landed. "You should get back to Minako. I have a bad feeling about tonight... and the head of the household rises at an early hour. I should be surprised if the lights within were to be flicked on at any instant."

"But we just-" The white cat peered down, dismayed.

Luna crooked a gaze up at the second window. "I'm quite aware of what we just did, and the_ time_ spent doing it Artemis, but something is off tonight. I think I'm too tense for a reason."

Two, or three minutes passed where they only stared at each other.

"Luna," Artemis called from above, "Three months is too long. We should meet more often."

"I'm afraid it might not be wise," her voice trailed gloomily. "But perhaps we can catch an early morning meal before you return? I know of a small bakery down the street that leaves a small pail of milk out for the morning strays."

"Shameless!" Artemis criticized her while feeling considerably perked up.

The both left together, disappearing beneath the small yew hedge. They turned right onto the street and followed the hedge as it curved into an imposing wrought-iron gate and other such walling architectural tools.

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><p>The conversation had been particularly refreshing to both of them, because they had purposely skipped what the rest of the world found news-worthy. Wars have stopped and peace negotiations have popped into existence where never previously thought, underground shelters were becoming the 'it' thing to have where homeowners were concerned, and the price of survival gear has sky-rocketed thanks to a small emergence in the sky.<p>

In the month of July the previous year, a red object pierced into the range of visibility for commercial telescopes., and in the months to follow it has become easy to spot with the naked eye. Scientists had already tracked its forward progression as it rounded in orbit toward the Earth, but most Earthlings never keep up to date with science journals. Those who did study the journals were slightly more educated on the matter, but not by much, because aside from a few stark physical details, a thick veil of dust obscured any remarkable detail that could be made. Some popular conspiracy theorists have concluded that it is a planet, come to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and several religions have made the object a focus of their worship.

No, the cats had purposely chosen not to discuss any of that, even when they shared a pail of lukewarm milk together. What they did discuss I will not write here, because friends as good and old as these deserve their privacy from time to time.

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><p><strong>That's all she wrote! This is probably going to be the general length for most chapters. I have a short attention span. If you liked my writing, if you want to see more, then I am glad. If you have a criticism for Luna and Artemis, please let me know; it is my desire to get them as close to Takeuchi's vision as possible. Thank you for reading!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I did not think that I would finish writing this chapter! I get so impatient with the pace of my own writing. This took about four hours to write, and while that may seem a little … short in the time spent, I know myself too well to let an idea go only half-writ... it _stays_ half-writ!**

**Thank you to the person who reviewed. It made my night!**

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><p>Usagi lay flat on her back beneath a thick blanket with a look on her face as though she had spent the last two days awake without a wink of sleep, but this could not be further from the truth as she had just slept nearly ten hours from the night previous. She had awoken by the sound of the alarm clock sitting on her desk some three minutes ago, and it continued (untouched) to sound off dimly the latest radio hit by Minako Aino. Her thick blonde hair, which was tied into two buns on both sides of her head, was tangled over her neck and chin like a great big scarf.<p>

A faint dusty light peered filtered through her curtain and provided the room with a light source. The door was slightly ajar and allowed the room a dim promise of what awaited below: pancakes, bacon... and the popping sound of egg-whites splattered from sizzling oil. Mama Tsukino's favorite tradition was making breakfast for her children on the first day of school, and it seemed this year would be no different.

But the scents and the alarm-radio had failed to instill life and motivation into Usagi. She had dreamed something, and it was an important something, but the more she tried to recall what she had been dreaming, the less important it became to a rational mind. She for certain that there had been two cats with tiny crescents on their forehead... that they had been talking... and they had been talking about Minako Aino. Usagi felt giggly at the very thought and pulled her duvet against the bottom half of her mouth.

She closed her eyes to try and remember what else the cats had talked about, but it was difficult. All Usagi knew at the moment was that they had taken themselves far too seriously for such small, cute kitties! And yet... why had they been talking about Aino Minako? Usagi couldn't believe that she had become that obsessed with her favorite pop idol... yet. At least not to the point where she was having dreams talking about her.

"U-sa-gi," Mama called from downstairs. "You should already be awake!"

"Mama..." Usagi cried back. "Fifteen more minutes!" She ran her fingers over the nearby desk to find the top on her radio-alarm. "I just hit my snooze button."

The door opened. Shingo entered fully dressed and with a look of incredulous disgust. This, Dear Reader, is Usagi's little brother. "Usaaagi... you don't need to hit the snooze alarm. Are you too lazy to get up when you're actually _supposed_ to?"

Usagi wasn't going to stand for this. Living under the same roof as Shingo was bad enough, but that he would enter her room unannounced and just to insult her when she could barely piece her own mind together was a last straw. "Mama," she called before shooting at Shingo, "Get out—this is my room, go be a pest somewhere else!" Then, a final, "MAMA!"

From the kitchen, Mama responded neutrally, "Breakfast is nearly done!"

Shingo did not leave immediately, but canvassed the room with his eyes and murmured, "Your room is like a pigsty." He held up object that Usagi did not see previously: a small brush with lots of blonde hairs poking out conspicuously from its bristles. "You don't know how to do anything right. Including picking up after yourself in the bathroom." He dropped it carelessly on the floor.

"Stop touching my things and maybe I would want to pick them up without any _Shingo-germs_ on them," she shouted back before stabbing her tongue in his direction.

"Girls are the ones who have cooties." Prematurely bored with the banter, the smaller boy decided to leave the room—but not before Usagi managed to whip a spare pillow at his direction. He used the door as a shield and blew a slobbery raspberry at his sister before shutting the door entirely. The pillow ineffectively rebounded to the floor.

Mildly annoyed, Usagi easily forgot about her dream and the two strange cats, though when she scrambled to her feet, she looked at the window as if she expected something or someone to be there. Nothing greeted her beyond the curtain except for a hepatic tinted sky, partially from sunrise and also in part from the red star that seemed to tail the sun's progression through the sky. Even its meager pin-sized presence in the sky made her skin crawl, and she pulled her curtains shut to begin a hunt for her newly pressed uniforms (pressed, thanks to her Mama).

Downstairs, the TV was on and switched to a local news station. The anchorman's voice filtered through the sounds of Mama Tsukino's preparation of the dining room's table. Two plates, one of fluffy pancakes and another of eggs were sat on either side of a fruit bowl. Lunch boxes for both Shingo and Usagi had been prepared, but only one remained now; by the time Usagi had finished dressing her little brother had already ate and caught the bus to his own school. Usagi sat down sleepily and watched the TV set's screen as Mama slid an empty plate in front of her daughter.

…_reports from the hospital that more people are reporting flu-like symptoms. Drowsiness, nausea, fatigue..._

"Usagi! Why is it always the same? Can't you learn to set your alarm clock earlier so that by the time the snooze alarm wears out you've woken up on time?" Mama Tsukino served her daughter's plate from behind, unaware of how loud she was being.

She was loud enough for Usagi to miss the next few lines from the anchorman. "It doesn't work that way, Mama.. If I do it that way, then I would have to hit the snooze alarm twice. Don't you know how it works for young girls? It's been too long, how can you remember?" She asked gloomily, as if she had somehow been unjustly maligned by Mama's suggestion.

_...are unsure what has caused this epidemic. Sources have suggested it may be a new strand of the recent NH17 virus that gave a tough fight the year before last. Doctors are now advising for people to keep current on their vaccinations and to try and keep in good health..._

"I'd like to think I'm young enough to remember how nice it is to sleep in, Lord knows I would appreciate _that_ luxury back in my life. You have to grow into a lady sometime! Now turn around and eat."

"Mama! My food is missing!" Usagi exclaimed as she checked her plate: there was only a small bunch of grapes, one apple and a banana. "What is this?" She picked a grape between her fingers and examined it crestfallen before she tried reaching for the platter of pancakes.

"No, Usagi. I gave you exactly what you need," Mama Tsukino scolded. She used a pair of tongs to bat the blonde's fingers from the pile of pancakes. "This is for Papa and I to share. I'm putting you on a diet."

"What!" Usagi did not want to believe what she was hearing readily refused to at once. "I don't need to go on a diet." She tried to prove this to her Mama by grabbing what she could of her stomach through her uniform and pinching it into a pouch. That she couldn't grab much seemed to justify her stance of not needing a diet. "Why can't I have pancakes? What about.. what about some eggs? What if I didn't have the syrup?"

_...no discrimination. Both old and young are at risk. Fortunately there are fully capable teams of experts working on a solution, and so far our Sources have said that there is a good hope for a nearby vaccination in the future..._

"Haven't you listened to the news?" When Usagi shook her head, unable to make the connection that her Mama obviously had, the elder woman made an exasperated sigh that caused Usagi to recoil into her seat sulkily. "You need to eat healthy so that you can be fit and strong. Besides, it's your first day. When you eat junk _your mind goes bunk_," (Usagi had groaned at her mother's witty advice), "which is why you're going to eat this and enjoy."

"I can't enjoy it now," Usagi said dejectedly and stared at her plate as though it were the immediate cause of all of her discontent in life. "Not when I know there's something so delicious beside it!"

…_have gone so far as to make their own opinion on the occurring sicknesses known. Here we have with us Claude Wille, an officiator for The Hand's sect. Claude?..._

"You're going to make Mama very sad if you don't eat," Mama Tsukino insisted emphatically. "Mama is only looking after your best interest! Won't you make her happy?"

Usagi adapted her mother's emotional third-person switch with a terribly pronounced pouty-face. "Mama should know that she made Usagi very sad!" She added a demonstrative sniff afterward before handling her apple and eying it critically. "Usagi's stomach is going to growl all the way until lunch time."

"_...no doubt a sign from the Red Star itself. Those who call out and accept God's grace, of course, have nothing to fear... but I suspect we should find many more wicked souls on their white beds and with the cough of death..."_

"Well Usagi is going to be very hungry if she doesn't hurry up and eat." Mama Tsukino dropped the third-person speech pattern and patted the top of Usagi's lunch box. "I've packed your lunch with something that should tie you up for the rest of the evening. It's already," she flicked a glance at her wrist-watch, "twenty before the hour. Take the banana and apple with you. Papa can have your grapes."

"_Well, that was Claude Wille! Do you have your own opinions? Call this number on the screen or text your opinion. We'll be airing some Twitter quotes we've collected the past week that are sure to amuse or just plain baffle you!"_

"You're so mean to me," Usagi accused her mother, and tucked both apple and banana into a small shoulder pack she planned on taking with her. Mama Tsukino didn't know what was hidden in Usagi's bag and the young blonde felt particularly glad about it. Yesterday Usagi had visited a small corner store on the way home and spent the majority of her allowance on some chocolate bars that were wrapped in in pretty foil colors. Both her and her best friend Naru came away with bulging sacks and, when they had tasted the candy, they both felt they were well worth the price.

It seemed that the abundant purchase of chocolates would be Usagi's breakfast this morning. As soon as she got out of window-spying distance from the house, she dug a foiled bar out and proceeded to feast on its chocolate goodness.

At some point before she reached the actual school district, Usagi could hear the school bells chiming from several blocks away. The preoccupation with chocolates along with general distractions had slowed her pacing considerably, and Usagi felt she could not be entirely blamed for this. For at least half of her walk she had the distinct impression that she was being watched by a pair of eyes she could not see. She had rationalized with herself that it had been the all-seeing eyes of her Mother as she started on her third candy bar, but that had made her even more uncomfortable with her actions and she ended up feeding the third chocolate bar to the nearest trash bin.

Lunch-box firmly tucked beneath her arm, Usagi waited for the last stop-light inhibiting her path to the Juuban Junior High School building. It was one of those pesky lights that wanted to take their sweet time despite the fact that there wasn't any cars oncoming through the street she needed to cross. She failed to notice as she her eyes plastered on the dusty red stop-hand the approach of one individual to her right side. But she did notice when the individual, a tall older man who looked as if he just reached adulthood, looked over his shoulder in her direction with a peculiar frown.

Usagi attempted to ignore him but two things made it difficult: his attractiveness (thick black hair, well dressed, dark eyes), and the intent with which he looked at her. Indeed, it felt as if he simultaneously mapped the entirety of her small body and judged it in the same instant. It left a slightly amused quirk on his lips, and because of his smirk, a cool sensation in the pit of her own stomach that left her feeling … slightly crept out, and another emotion that she was too inexperienced to name.

Even by the time the dark-haired man returned to minding his own business—that is to say, the road in front of him—Usagi felt the need to confront him, "Uhhh! If you took a picture, it would have lasted longer." She managed her best alluring smile at him.

It took a moment for him to decide if it was worth replying. "I think I'll pass on that."

Usagi's smile pinched out into a narrow-lipped stare. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

The light turned green, but he humored her question with a glance at her. "You have a little something... here." He touched a finger to the corner of his mouth... and then began walking briskly across the street while he was still able.

"What?" Usagi repeated in less words and scooped at the corner of her mouth with an index. When she examined her finger-pad she was appalled at what she saw: smeared chocolate—and she could imagine how much was actually there. She scrubbed so furiously at her mouth, and so zealously with the back of her knuckles that she forgot to cross the street altogether and found herself waiting another two minutes for the walk signal. It did not matter much in the end because time had suddenly stopped existing for her as her thoughts raced ahead self-consciously.

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><p><strong>As with the other chapter, please, if anyone has criticisms for how I'm portraying Usagi—I'm all open ears, and I'm not afraid to go back and rewrite something!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I have to thank you guys so much for the support you've shown! I could not ask more. I've wanted to write sooner, but it was a case of either not being in a writing mood or being too exhausted from work. For those of you who write Sailor Moon fanfiction (or just fanfiction in general), what do you do to get in the mood?**

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><p>She was only fifteen minutes late to class, yet Usagi could not help but to feel that she had inevitably damned herself in the eyes of her peers for another year. It was a missed chance to start out fresh, to be known as the reliable student who was always on time to class, and her misfortune was only doubled when she discovered that her assigned teacher for the year was apparently a hard-ball. Not only was the door locked, but when she mashed her face to the small window as an appeal for mercy, the teacher from inside told her through the shut door (in what she felt was an unnecessarily firm voice) that she would only be admitted after receiving a tardy notice .<p>

As she reflected in the school's office while waiting for a pink-slip to be written, Usagi had a difficult time controlling a surge of emotion. Her eyelids felt a little tight, and the wrinkle against her chin was overwhelming. It was only by sniffling that she seemed able to control tears from streaking her cheeks with a terrible, tell-tale blotchy red. And it was all that person's fault! She didn't know the name of the man she had met on the street, and in truth she might have been late to class any ways, but it made her feel better to push the blame on a nameless individual she's named in her head as "Person".

"He was so cruel!" she cried to the marginally sympathetic secretary, speaking about the teacher who had sent her to the office. "He could have let me in. He could have given me an ency wincy bit of mercy, couldn't he? It's only the first day..."

After the red-haired secretary told Usagi she shouldn't worry about it too much, she held the pink-slip out for the girl between an index and middle finger. "Besides, there's always a chance to make up for it later. Cheer up! There's no need to look so down about it."

Usagi's bottom lip pulled up high. "But there is! I'm being picked on. And it's only the first day. Plus." It occurred to Usagi that the teacher's voice had been distinctively masculine. It hadn't appeared odd to her at first, but as the initial upset feelings wore off, she became more aware that the person inside of her classroom was not Ms. Sakurada. Ms. Sakurada's voice was not very masculine at all, nor was she a 'he'. "Wait. Maybe that was the wrong room... I couldn't possibly be stuck with such a mean teacher—but oh, nooo! That means I'm _really_ late; what time is it?"

As Usagi whipped her head back and forth to pin a wall-clock down in the four walled office, the secretary reexamined the pink-slip herself. "Room two-o'-three? No, Ms. Tsukino, that is the correct room for you according to my computer." She switched her attention back to the small, out-dated machine on her desk to double-check. "Usagi Tsukino, Class Two, for a Mr. Carter. Is there a reason why that shouldn't be correct?"

"Mr. Carter? But Mama said that—But Ms. Hado—"

"It seems your previous teacher was replaced. Unfortunately I can't say anything more about it." The secretary offered an apologetic smile and this time held the pink-slip out a little more insistently. "But now is class time. You should hurry back to class before you miss anything that might important. Be sure you catch up on the introductions."

Usagi wanted to complain, and to find out in more details why she wasn't getting the teacher her class was originally assigned to. Call it a gut instinct, but she felt sure that Ms. Sakurada would naturally be more sympathetic to a young girl's feminine and whimsical ways—or at least more forgiving than Mr. Cater was showing himself to be. And there was a smidge of student-loyalty within her that was certain Mr. Carter would be an inferior teacher by far! But she could tell that she was being dismissed by the secretary, so she sheepishly took the notice and returned back to the floor that her class room was located on.

Through the locked door's window, Usagi could see that Mr. Carter was sitting at his desk—the desk that should be Ms. Sakurada's—while talking to the students. The classroom consisted of Class 2 students, most of whom Usagi had known since she began the public school system. Two faces stood out more prominently than the rest.

The first was Naru, Usagi's best and closest friend. The two shared a lot of fond memories over the years, and they shared many of the same interests—such as music. It was Naru who went with her to the release of Minako Aino's newest album three months ago. They both received their special edition CD's, each coming with a booklet of their favorite pop idol in unique outfits. The outfits were so cute that the two friends had tried to reconstruct a few of them during their holidays. Usagi was never very good at sewing and quickly gave up on hers, but Naru, who seemed to have a natural knack for most things that were considered lady-like (Usagi suspected that this had something to do with Naru's upbringing), finished and kept most of them in her closet.

In fact, Naru had quite a few talents beyond normal house-keeping skills, and Usagi deeply admired her for those, whether it be academic or social related. The only person Usagi knew that could beat Naru academically within their own class was Umino, the second face that Usagi immediately recognized from the door window. But Usagi did not regard this friend with the same affection that she did the other, simply because Usagi found him... a little... peculiar?

Peculiar didn't even seem the right word. Usagi simply didn't understand Umino, and never felt much of a desire to, because for all of Umino's brains, he could not construct a formula to even be marginally charismatic. He was blunt when he should be subtle, annoyingly vague when he should be obvious, and all around a geeky know-it-all; however, his worst crime was that Usagi knew beyond certainty that he fancied her. Not in the friendship way. In the smoochy-smoochy, kiss-kiss way. This meant that she was usually stalked by him, and where his flaws could have been found cute and adorable, she found them grating as she was forced to put up with them on a near twenty-four hour basis.

That's not to say Usagi didn't like Umino; everyone has a friend that annoys them more than others, and after going through a holiday without seeing much of Umino, Usagi could not help but feel absurd happiness bubbling from inside when she saw that they had both secured a desk between themselves for her to sit at. She even wanted to tell Umino about a recent action show on TV she'd been watching, one that she knew he would enjoy if only for the sheer sake that Usagi found it entertaining herself.

However, out of the students currently sitting within the classroom, there were two others that Usagi could not recognize: a small diminutive girl with brown hair and a nose that seemed too large for her oval face, and another girl that was the opposite in every manner—as in, she was tall and rather thick-muscled for a girl of her age. Indeed, it seemed as though the school uniform she was wearing was a size too small and it stretched awkwardly over the width of her shoulders. Usagi could not help but feel that this girl must have been very uncomfortable, because she would find herself very self-conscious if her own clothes didn't fit her body cutely!

During the time that Usagi spent scoping the room through the window, Mr. Carter had noticed the blonde spy from his desk. Mr. Carter was a unique addition to the classroom setting. He was obviously a foreigner of some sort, though Usagi could not say why. His was skin was an earthy shade, and he had allowed stubble to grow against his chin and neck purposely. His hair (some shade of brown like chestnut), while a medium length, did not touch the collar of his shirt and clipped over the top of his ears. Tall, and not entirely old (perhaps late twenties?), the most remarkable feature on him was his eyes... and this is because he wore glasses. Usagi could not tell the color of his eyes until he walked over to the door and peered down at her through the glass (they were definitely some shade of hazel!).

"Did you bring something for me, little lost lamb?" he asked through the door.

"Yes," Usagi claimed sadly, but he did not admit her until she waved the written notice in her hand at him.

She was not able to immediately take the seat that her friends had claimed for her, because Mr. Carter instructed her to stop once she entered the room. "Now just wait a second. You're not going to introduce yourself to us? To me?" He had been holding a piece of chalk in his hand, and he used it to point at her. Usagi felt slightly self-conscious and eyed the chalk's end as though it were a very suspicious instrument of punishment. "Now it might just be me, but that seems a little rude... _don't you think?_ Why don't you introduce yourself to class so we can all know each other."

Usagi felt it was rude that he was singling her from the rest of the sheep, as he so referenced earlier, but she didn't feel bold enough to call him out on it. In the face of obvious authority, truth be told, she felt downright insecure. She began folding her pink slip in half and fiddling with its edges. "Uhm! … You mean like... say my name and stuff?"

"I assumed that's how most people introduce themselves, unless you would like to write it." He took the notice from her to keep it from being further wrinkled. Despite his words, he did not seem to invite her to make use of the chalk he kept in his hand.

Usagi took a breath. She noticed Naru's encouraging smile and the small waving movement of her hand, and she felt slightly elated from it. Turning from Mr. Carter, she curtsied in front of the classroom and decided to bleat merrily to cover the fact that she could feel her knees trembling as though their bones had become wet noodles, "Hi! My name is Tsukino, Usagi, and I'm your class mate for this year! Please think favorably of me, please? I promise I won't be late every time. Uhm. Uhm. Let's do our best?"

Most, if not all of the students returned a kind smile to Usagi, including two unfamiliar faces that Usagi had spotted earlier. The positive reception made Usagi's own smile become brighter as she turned to Mr. Carter, who consequently appeared bemused. "Decent. We'll work on your delivery later. Please take a seat—oh, but not _back there_," he had noted the desk that Usagi was attempting to make her way to earlier, "no, no, you will be seated here in the front. I want to keep my _eye on you_—plus, being that you're so obviously adored by this class, you can help one of our new transfer students out. Help her get … _a feel on things_. You may introduce yourselves to each other after class. Now, don't just stand there staring. There's an empty desk right there at the window. Spit spot."

Usagi felt as though she might have accidentally stepped into a wad of super-glue or something. Her feet seemed unable to move in either direction. She wasn't going to get to sit by Naru? She wasn't going to be pestered by Umino's whisper's to stay focused? Her mind raced and she spoke before any inhibitions could catch her, "But... Mr...!"

"Mr. Carter," the teacher supplied while pointing with the chalk to his name on the blackboard. Though his gaze was inquisitive, Usagi felt it was more taunting than welcoming. "There isn't a problem... is there, Ms. Tsukino?"

The transfer student, the one with a nose that was a little too big for her face, spoke first. Her eyes drew up to Usagi and lips curled into a grin as they formed words, "Maybe it is because I'm the new girl, Mr. Carter?"

"_Oh, no!_ I didn't mean it THAT way-"

"How _dreadfully_ awful," Mr. Carter crooned as he returned to his own desk, unconcerned.

"Nooo! I didn't mean it that way!" Having picked the habit up from her Mama long ago, Usagi resorted to a third person voice to invoke understanding. "Usagi will happily sit by the new girl! She just..." She looked behind her shoulder and shared a look with Naru, who frowned and shook her head at Usagi to discourage the blonde from trying to request a different seating. Usagi took her cue and continued brightly, "She was just surprised, that's all!" Third person dropped as she felt Mr. Carter's gaze boring in on her from the side. "I'll just set my things here."

As Usagi dropped her bag and lunch box onto the assigned desk, Mr. Carter appeared pleased. "Excellent. Now that we have that sorted out, students, if you could continue looking at page three of the syllabus—oh, dear. Ms. Tsukino of course will not have one, since she is..." He checked a small wrist watch, "well, would it be an understatement to say she's a little... _late_? I think not. Please share with Ms. Kuroki. We were just about to start talking about how I will be grading this class, and coincidentally students, if you will look, _class attendance_ happens to factor in..."

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><p>After class, Usagi met with Naru and Umino at the school courtyard where they felt that nobody would be bothered to listen in. Usagi talked very animatedly with her friends, very annoyed about their current teacher. "Irritating! Mean! Cruel! I don't have enough words to describe him! I... I … I could eat his stupid syllabus and spit it back out at him! I mean, if I could, I would."<p>

Naru was trying not to laugh, and did a good job of concealing her smile with a hand. "You have to admit that he was very entertaining, though, don't you think? We will learn lots from him. He is definitely not from these parts, but I'm not sure where. I'm am sorry, though, that he made you sit away from us... It must be his sense of humor."

"Some humor," Usagi scoffed vehemently.

"Well I didn't think he was so smart," Umino nasally claimed. "If he knew what he was talking about he wouldn't have to use his arms so much to talk. Ms. Sakurada didn't have to wave her arms around to try to get an idea across!" He was referencing Mr. Carter's tendency to makes gestures with his arms as he spoke, much like any other person would use their hands.

"YEAH," Usagi agreed, her sweet face soured into an irritable squint. "Miss Haruna is better and nicer by far!"

"Usagi will be saying the same thing," Naru said aside to Umino with shut eyes, "about Mr. Carter if Ms. Sakurada comes back. You would just have to wait for her to make Usagi wash the desks or clap chalk erasers again..."

"I will not!" Usagi said indignantly as Umino had already began nodding with Naru. "Never in a million years would I prefer that Carter to Ms. Sakurada!" With that stated, Usagi seemed to wilt like a flower that hasn't been treated with water in a while as the full disappointment for the situation settled in. "Why would they replace her?"

"They didn't really have a choice," Naru answered knowingly.

Umino clarified as he tried to nudge closer to Usagi (this didn't work, because she automatically took a step back to keep the friendly distance the same distance). "Ms. Naru is part of the student council, you know? She has insider information to all the mysteries behind teachers!"

"Umino, don't be such a dork," Naru retorted at the boy with glasses, dismayed by his choice of words.

"What are you not telling me?" Usagi glanced between the two of them, her blue eyes widened with excitement. "Out with it! Why isn't Ms. Hado (this was a common nickname the students gave this particular teacher) teaching our class anymore? She couldn't have … abandoned us... not willingly?" The pig-tailed blonde made a face as though she were about to cry, though it was very obviously a pretended look of hurt.

"Well... you can't really hold me to this, Usagi, but I heard some of the teachers in the office talking. Apparently before classes started, last week... well, they said she's sick and in the hospital."

Usagi stopped pretending to look hurt and gave a sincere frown. "What?"

"I bet it's that new virus that's out!" stated Umino, but in such a prideful voice that it awarded him with two awkward looks from his friends. "I mean, I've been listening to the news. It seems a lot of people have been getting sick and ending up in the hospital, lately."

"Yeah..." Naru added with a thoughtful expression.

"Why wouldn't they tell us that?" With a hand covered over the bottom half of her face, Usagi ducked her chin to the side and tried to quietly piece it out. While she never felt any particular bond with Ms. Sakurada outside of a student-teacher relationship, it was never a comforting thing to hear that someone you know was suddenly … sick. Not well. In trouble. Something. Even if it was not her fault that this was the first time she was hearing about it, she felt distinctly guilty that she had not known about it previously. "Poor Ms. Hado..."

All three of them kept their heads bowed during the silence they shared.

"The virus is most likely going to spread," Umino concluded insensitively.

Usagi ignored him and stated with a firm fist. "We should go visit her. Poor Ms. Sakurada must feel very lonely in the hospital and without her students to teach!"

Naru gave a small smile. "I have change for a bus ticket."

Umino looked surprised. "But... Naru! You wanted to go to the arcade after class..."

"This is more important," Naru remonstrated harshly at Umino.

"I don't mean to make you use up all of your money..." Usagi muttered while nibbling on the side of her index nail, but she wasn't about to refuse it. "Now... the uhm... the hospital?"

Naru was already pulling her cell phone out from the pocket of her uniform's blazer. "We can take care of that with just a few quick calls." She smiled kindly again at her blonde friend when Usagi began beaming admiringly at her. "You really should carry a phone with you, Usagi. See if you can talk your mom into letting you have one; I feel safer with mine on me. Now, shhh." She began dialing an information operator for a list of hospital numbers.

"Hmph." Umino stated, and folded his arms over his chest seriously. Usagi figured that he was probably trying to channel some manly spirit to take charge of the situation. It was Umino's contribution, and even as small as it was, Usagi was glad and warmed to see him make one.

What they did not know was that, despite their discreet location beneath an overhanging of ivy, they were being watched passively by stray black cat.

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><p><strong>AN: Mr. Carter is such a fun person to write. I wish I had a teacher that was half as cool as him during my school years. I won't say he's mine, because he's a borrowed character outside of the Sailor Moon universe, but I think to say who he is would spoil it!<strong>

**Personally, to get in the mood for writing I listen to Sailo Moon midis. I know! So out-dated, right? I got in the habit back when I used to read all of the Jupiter Knight stories from SailorJupiter(dot)com (Incidentally, the Venus Knight stories were my favorite despite Mako-chan being my favorite senshi!). They would play midis at certain parts of the chapter to really help put the reader in the mood—and so now as I write, I find that listening to certain midis helps put me in the mood to write certain things.**

**I'm a little confused on how to handle Japanese words in this story, since I'm writing it in English. I want to put in the cutesy, Naru-Chan~, and Usagi-Chan~ bits, but I just don't think it would fit. I was going to use their English dub names initially, but I decided against it.**

**To answer reviews:**

**Mimi: Yes Ma'am!**

**James: Thanks for reading them! I hope chapters continue to be good.**

**Anon: NO! YoumaynothaveMORE. … Or maybe yes! Haha! That made me laugh. You know, I think that's about the only part of Oliver that I've seen before?**

**dainlord: ! I've read a lot of your fictions and commented on them underneath a different name. You are so crazy-talented. 3 Thanks for checking mine out!**

**And of course, thank you, everyone else who read. = )**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: With each chapter that I write, the content gets longer and longer. I swear, it's unintentional, but I feel a little bad about updating the story without actual story content that moves toward an overhanging plot. I may even change the official synposis I wrote for this story since it may be quite a while til I actually reach the meat of anything.**

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><p>Usagi thought the reception room at the hospital was absurdly crowded, but what surprised her most was that the people there did not just consist of families and sick patients. There were other people there who were loitering both on the sidewalk and within the building. When approaching the hospital, all three of them had been forced (or so they felt) into receiving individual handouts by various cloaked individuals. This made Usagi feel particularly awkward because she didn't feel that it was appropriate for any organization to be spreading their Dogma near the hospital, not when there was already enough tragedy and drama within its walls.<p>

""More of 'The Hand' dribble," Naru stated with disgust. She threw her own flyer into the nearest trash bin after they entered the hospital and gave a small grouping in the far corner, each individual wearing a thick red robes, a sour face. "It makes me sick that they would waste paper to print whatever is they're trying to push. Usagi, just toss yours too. They're terrible people."

Usagi wanted to ask what she meant by that, but Umino, ever eager to please people with his knowledge on recent events, quickly supplied Usagi with the run-down: "The Hand is the latest New Age religion that has been around for the past twenty-one years! They've been loosely connected with 'The Helping Hand' orphanage located in Shiba Koen (part of the same district that Azabu is apart of), though neither organization has made an official declaration or denial. They-"

"Umino, we don't need to know anymore!" Naru cried and shoved her hand forcefully at Umino's mouth to shoosh him up.

Usagi examined the flyer's front. She had never seen such a sigil before; it consisted of a series of circles and writing in a language she didn't recognize. She stuffed it into the pocket of her blazer when she felt Naru wasn't looking, not particularly interested in the organization itself, but she felt no reason to toss it just yet aside from her friend's obvious disapproval.

Having just hung up the phone, the receptionist looked a little frumpled by the abundant workload. Her glasses hung a little askew from her nose and an assortment of pens were stuck behind each ear. "Yes?" she asked, "The sign in list is over here." She patted a clip board with a long list of individually penned names.

Naru leaned against the front desk. "Sakurada, Haruna. We spoke on the phone earlier..."

The conversation continued on for a little. Naru helped her mother part-time at the small jewelry store, Osa-P, that her family owned. She had learned a little about the business of conversing with adults. Usagi had yet to learn that talent and both she and Umino were content to let the more experienced friend do the talking.

The hospital itself was set in tasteful décor. Oak wood and beige panneled the wall and connected from side to side by an olive carpet and creamy linoleum. A dusty light flickered through the windows and set the lobby a-glow from the outside setting sun. If it had not been for 'The Hand' and their camping of outer sidewalk, the light would be solid and full, but for now it flickered could not compare with the florescents that lined the ceiling in vertical rows.

As Usagi inspected some of the drapery around these windows, she noticed another girl with a similar uniform approaching the lobby door. Usagi could recognize the logo on her blazer and knew immediately that the girl attended the same school. She was even the same age! But Usagi felt sure she had never met her before... No, Usagi would definitely recognized her if she knew her, because her hair was cut into a unique bob. She too seemed to be having problems with the outside flyer handlers, and as she got caught into a conversation with one of them, she had to repeatedly refuse to accept a hand-out several times until they allowed her to walk peacefully into the hospital

Umino suspected who Usagi was spying on (glasses have to count for something), and seized the opportunity to info-dumped on her again, doubly eager for approval now that Naru could not interfere with his courting. "Ahh! Miss Usagi has noticed Azubu-Juuban Junior High's number one student! Mizuno, Ami. Class five. The freak genius. That's what they've been calling her. She spends all of her extra time in cram school, and doesn't sleep at night, because—"

"She what?" Usagi asked, giving Umino a wide-eyed stare. She felt Umino was exaggerating again.

"Well, she doesn't sleep at night because she studies so much! Books. Books. Books. She is a proper student. Rumored IQ of above two-hundred... A vampire of knowledge, they call her." He watched Usagi to see if she was impressed yet.

"No way!" Usagi gasped, but she was more disbelieving about the study habits than she was of the IQ score. "No one could ever study that much. They wouldn't have time for anything else! What a scary thought... That's more scary than an everspreading, unstoppable virus!" Usagi began to laugh at herself, but immediately stopped as she felt the gaze of Ami Mizuno fall on her.

Usagi could not tell what the other student must have been thinking, but she gathered that it must have been a very disapproving thought. Unable to bear the thought of anyone having a disapproving thought of herself (at least anyone she hadn't met, yet!), she sought to immediately set it straight in the most obvious manner she could muster. She waved the other student over, "Heeeeey, we go to the same school! Are you here for a family member?"

Surprised by the question, Ami stopped proceeding into the foyer. She stood there and stared at the tops of Usagi's shoes before she answered in a small voice. "In a way. Excuse me." She continued to approach Naru's left.

Naru and the receptionist had just finished their conversation, which was very good because it appeared Ami needed her attention too. The higher classed student asked the woman behind the desk, "What floor is my mother...?"

"Earlier than usual, today...? She's on the fourth floor."

"Thank you."

"Ms. Sakurada is also on the fourth floor," Naru said aside to Usagi and Umino, and tried to herd both of her friends in the same direction as Ami so that they could catch the elevator together.

Usagi was already bounding ahead to try and catch up with the short-haired student. "Wait! Your mother is on the fourth floor? We can go together! It will make it easier, won't it? I didn't think we would find another student here—oh, Naru, have you met Miss Mizuno before?"

Ami fingered the button for the elevator and turned to regard the three with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. Specifically Usagi. "I didn't know we've been introduced before, but if you need the fourth floor, I don't mind if you come along." Usagi found it peculiar, but slightly endearing that she didn't show too much expression in her face. It was mysterious! If Usagi had been in her shoes, she would have been glad for the company.

"Do you want us to take another elevator?" asked Naru, cautiously as she tried to spy the next unoccupied elevator within the lobby.

But when Ami assured Naro that she did not mind, Usagi quickly bubbled with, "Oh! We haven't been introduced, yet! But Umino here," she gestured the boy with glasses, "knows all about you and has already told me." At this, it seemed as if Umino became a pastey shade of white that warranted a concerned look from Naru. Usagi did not notice. "I mean, you're that really smart girl, aren't you? Of course you are! You act just how I would imagine someone that smart to act—come to think of it, I do know you! You're the one I hear about and who all of those teachers compare me to." There was a definite pout to the blonde's voice as she felt indignant toward all of the disappointed comments teachers had given her in the past. "'_Usagi, why can't you act more responsible like my last student?_' and '_Usagi, there is another student your same age who does nothing but study! Why can't you emulate her habits?_'"

"I'm sorry if I've caused you trouble," Ami sympathized kindly, at first a little worried by Usagi's imitations but then faintly amused after she realized the blonde had only been acting playfully. "But we must hurry if we're going to the fourth floor. We mustn't keep the elevator." Her hand was already holding the door open for the three. She waited for them to enter the compartment first before letting the door shut behind herself.

Usagi chose the corner furthest from Umino and leant against the wall despite being perfectly aware how short the elevator trip should be. "Sooo... you're here for your Mama—"

"Miss Mizuno," Naru talked over Usagi loudly, protectively trying to steer the conversation in a safe direction. If there was one thing Naru prized with social interactions, it was tact. Again, probably one of those things she picked up from working part-time at Osa-P. "You must be several classes ahead of us. I haven't seen you very often, though I know you already by reputation." Naru smiled a little. "You're my superior by far. Umino and I really admire you—Umino has been a really big fan of your chess games. We watched a few that were recorded and put online."

Ami appeared to be very interested in the elevator panel, but Usagi could have sworn that a small hint of blush was crawling over the tip of her nose. "They were put online?" the short-haired student asked.

"Your strategy against Grandmaster Fido-B was fierce," Umino bursted, unable to contain himself. Naru nodded in agreement, though she was less interested in the chess part itself. "So touching! So moving! Especially how you defeated his signature four-knights strategy."

"He was a tough challenge." Ami began looking at the floor.

"Effortlessly," beamed Umino! Naru gave him a half-lidded look.

"Anyone can do it, if they simply study their own strategy well enough," Ami suggested. "Which room are you looking for? I'm well acquainted with this hospital. At the least, you wont't get lost."

Ami's apparent modesty was exactly what Umino wanted to hear. It completed his picture-perfect image of this ideal student. Nothing pleased him more than seeing his vision fall perfectly into place and so he commented in a wonderous voice. "And so humble! Miss Naru, wouldn't you say Miss Mizuno is the most perfect student in the world? The galaxy? Surely the she is. . ."

This was exactly what Ami did not want to hear. She became quiet altogether and appeared for all purposes unable to move or speak. Since Naru, while appearing paricularly upset did not try to correct Umino's grievous error, Usagi was the one who had to speak up. "Do you listen to the things you say out loud? You're creeping her out." Usagi offered Ami a happy smile. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Ignore him. He says things like that all the time."

Naru palmed her own face slowly and told Ami the room number in a muffled voice. "Your offer to help is appreciated but it's unnecessary. Shouldn't you be finding your mother?"

"I have time," Ami assured Naru once again and began to lead them into the corridor. The followed her through through a set of double-doors. Though most of the patients were located within their own room, a few of them could be seen entering and exiting the rooms with their appointed nurses. Usagi felt a little discomfoted by what she saw, because she could see nothing physically wrong with them, though something was very obviously off. It was the color of their skin. The engorged purple veins on the bottom of their eyelids. The way they seemed to teeter rather than walk, and perhaps the worst part, how very thin they each seemed.

Ami showed the three to Ms. Sakurada's room and told them that she would be outside.

The room itself was rather small and contained two occupants. Neither of the three friends knew who the other person was. All of the light seemed filtered from above and bathed the room in a hollow light that left a less than pleasant atmosphere. It was all so very industrial, and the plastic fern that was meant to bring life to the room appeared to do the opposite by mocking it. Ms. Sakurada looked up as they waltzed toward her and, seeing who they were, gave a small smile.

"This is a pleasant surprise," she said, pulling her covers back from her neck where she laid in the bed. "The doctor is supposed to be here any minute, but... I never expected such small visitors."

When she tried to sit up Naru firmly told her that she should remain laying down. "Ms. Sakurada... you don't look bad at all! You look the same as last year to me."

Usagi knew that Naru was lying. The truth was that their former teacher didn't look any better than any of the other patients here, except for maybe a brighter pair of eyes and a stylish taste in hair style. She tried asking while feeling particularly useless, "How are you?"

"I feel absolutely fine," Ms. Sakurada chirped , smoothing her hands over the sheets to feel out her body. "If only I didn't keep having these minor symptoms, I'd be fit to teach the class again this year." She looked back at Naru. "You didn't have to organize this trip, girls! I understand today is your first day... And you," she looked at Umino, "your clubs."

"It was Usagi's idea," Naru stated proudly.

Umino supported this with, "We wanted to come!"

"What symptoms are you having?" Usagi came closer to the bedside and placed her hands down on the bedspread. She had an urge to touch her old teacher's hand but an unbidden voice warned her that this would be crossing a social barrier—something Naru found inappropriate. She instead contented herself to be as near as possible without making actual contact.

"Oh, nothing for you to concern yourself with." The brunette gave the three of them a tired smile.

"It's not airborne," informed Umino. "Not passed through body fluids or by contact so far, as studies have showed! It's why visitors are allowed. It can't possibly be a true virus then, as doctors are calling it!" Nobody listened to him.

"How did you come down with it...?" Naru inquired as she began to pour a pitcher of water into a glass, both items located on a small convenience side table.

"I'm not rightfully sure, but it's very simple: I had a very long week, then I dozed off and I found myself in this condition! I was very lucky to be able to find a reputable substiute teacher in time to teach my poor children. I hope none will be left behind." Haruna Sakurada did not mean to look at Usagi as she said this, but the unfortunate fact was that Usagi felt she only said it for her benefit. "You are enjoying him, aren't you?"

Mixed answers, though the promdominant feeling was an emphatic no. Naru supported him while Usagi and Umino delved into immediate complaints. The tanglement of their voices caused Ms. Sakurada a headache and she had to usher them to be quiet once more as she dealed with the painful throb a vein on the side of her temple. "Please, please..." After she drank the glass of water that Naru offered her, she stated slowly, "Teachers are very important to a young student's life. Please trust me when I say that chose my substitute with care. And... hmm. There's my doctor, now."

An older women with a familiarly bobbed cut entered the room. She was firm to instruct the students that they needed to wait outside in the corridor. Ami Mizuno was still there, waiting and looking preoccupied with herself. Usagi had to greet her outloud to catch her attention. "You're still 't you going to go looking for your mom?"

"Oh... I just saw her." She did not, and would not further elaborate.

* * *

><p>It had not been a terribly enlightening day. Usagi wanted to feel pleased with herself, but there were too many questions bubbling in her mind. During the summer break she had not cared for the 'virus' spread, but now that it touched somebody that she new personally, it ached on the back of her mind like a sore muscle that needed to be stretched. She imagined briefly what Naru would say if she voiced this opinion to her, and when the imaginary Naru told her that it was because she never used her brain the first place, she felt that it was probably a good time to go to sleep.<p>

The day had been considerably improved by the hospital visit, Usagi relfected as she pulled up a pair of pink pajamas bottoms and loosened her hair from her signature pigtails. While the interaction with Ami Mizuno began ended at the hospital, Usagi felt particularly good about that meeting—more so, perhaps, than she felt about the visit with Ms. Sakurada. Standing by the initial decision that Ami was definitely a peculiar person, she knes there was ultimately something very wonderful beneath that. Some very interesting, cute person that she could be friends with. There was no hard evidence to prove Usagi's theory, but it was the most romantic thing Usagi could think of, and by the time she had began brushing her teeth, Usagi imagined a very tragic romance in Ami's recent past that left the short-haired girl with a decent explanation for the exact behavior she exhibited in the hospital.

It helped that Ami had hinted herself that she would be seeing more of Usagi's class. She had told the three friends cryptically before they left, "They say it's a small world and I have it on good word that we will be meeting again." She had refused to explain that, too, even when Usagi begged and welled up thick alligator tears at being denied.

After Usagi kissed her Mama and Papa goodnight (the earlier confrontation about lunch and breakfast were long forgotten), she returned to her room to find a small piece of jewelry left on top of her bed. Attached to a gold-plated chain was a star shaped locket constructed mostly from the same as the chain. She didn't recognize it as any piece she currently owned and immediately picked it up to examine it with both fingers and eyes.

Needless to say, she was very pleased.

"So pretty," she squealed, clasping the end around her neck so that the star part of the locket swung heavily over her breasts until stilling. "It's perfect for me! Look how precious it is... and how it shines! Oooh, Mama must have gotten it for me! Mama always knows what I like. Maybe it's to make up for putting me on that terrible diet this morning."

It struck her that someone was watching her. She did not know immediately who it was but she suspected it might have been her mother, or even her little brother trying to peep through the door. But the door was firmly shut. It was by chance that she looked out the window and spotted a pair of brick-red eyes looking at her. Friendly red eyes. Not the kind you see in horror films...and it was gone. The creature, whatever it had been, accidentally clipped the window with its hind paw as it jumped off the window to another nearby ledge.

Not really a big deal, in Usagi's opinion. Stray cats were very common in her district, and after she reassured herself of that—that the creature must have been a cat and not some other terrible, horrible thing that crept out of one of Shingo's TV shows—she felt more confident to continue exploring her new found gift.

She tried to open the locket later after she inspected how it looked against her neck in the mirror, but she couldn't pry the two halves apart. It made the pads of her thumbs sore to work the clasp and after it bent one of her fingernails, she decided to hold off opening its secrets until morning so that Papa could work it instead. So excited was she about the locket itself that she decided to continue wearing it as she slept.

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><p>In Usagi's dream the red star overpowered the sky and stained the landscape in a hepatic gloom. She felt the immediate area was familiar but it was not any part of Azubu she had seen before in the real world. Too many jagged rocks punctured the ground, and there were not enough buildings around. A severe lack of trees and overhanging structure in general made it difficult for her to find shelter. She desperately wanted to find that shelter, too. It was too hot and she could feel the sweat beading on her forehead, and her own clothes clung to her moist skin like... Ugh.<p>

Her clothes...?

As Usagi stopped to wipe her face down with loose material from her sleeve, she was shocked to find that she wore the prettiest gown that she had ever laid eyes on. This worried and excited her—sure, it was beautiful, but where did it come from? It wasn't like she could ever afford anything like this! She hoped briefly that it was not a stolen garment and asked for forgiveness from the bunny on the moon if it was indeed an outfit warranted by sticky fingers... but she still twirled in her dress and delighted on how the fabric twisted and slipped against her ankles.

The necklace was still there too. She smiled in relief as she checked it between her fingers. It had stayed safe.

Thirst became another issue. The overt heat caused the back of her throat to constrict violently, and the moisture in her spit did not seem good enough to soothe the parched sensation. The more she became aware of it the more she tried to swallow, and the more she tensed her throat by swallowing, the more aware she became. It was a terrible loop and it did not stop after Usagi explored the terrain for what felt like hours. During that time Usagi found that she was possibly the only living life form, because as the world continued to materialize, the more obvious it became that plant life did not exist. She could not spot even a single weed or dried piece of grass.

When it became too much, the defeated Usagi found a relatively flat rock to sit on and plunged her face into her hands. She made tearless sobs (her body could not think to squeeze another bead of moisture out in fear of wasting it) and resorted to the necklace that she had felt relief over earlier. It opened easily beneath her experienced fingers and revealed two portraits. She recognized both of them, even if she could not recall their names.

One picture was of an older woman with long blonde hair and kind blue eyes. Her lips mouthed advice to Usagi, "Don't give up!" and she lifted her hands up in a welcoming expression as though she could hug the poor misplaced school student. The second picture was of an adult male nearing his middle years. His blue eyes were similarly kind, but his hair was jet black and impeccably styled. Unlike the other half of the locket, he was not giving advice, but he was shaking his head side to side. "Not yet."

Usagi tried to ask them a question, but when she opened her mouth to speak she she found she didn't have a voice. The texture of the world began to peel and the image from her eyes faded altogether. She felt her bed beneath her and knew that if she opened her eyes she would be back in her own bed and in her own pajamas. It did not take long for her to lose her stream of consciousness and truly drift off, both mind and body.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: What I feel worst about is the lack of Usagi x Mamoru content, but it's definitely something I don't want to rush. I hope people will want to stick around enough to read it when I finally get to it.<strong>


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